Quest to visit a film location

Chavenage House, Tetbury

The Ghost of Greville Lodge

Earlier this year, I watched a film called The Ghost of Greville Lodge (2000), which stars George Cole and Prunella Scales. In it, a teenage boy becomes involved in a ghost mystery when he stays at his great uncle's country manor, and the film is based on the book DOWN CAME A BLACKBIRD by Nicholas Wilde.

I was absolutely enchanted by the gorgeous manor house that stood in for Greville Lodge and longed to pay a visit to see its charms for myself. Imagine my delight when, upon investigation, I found it was located about 30 miles from where I live - fantastic!

Portrait of David Lowsley-Williams

I visited Chavenage House near Tetbury this weekend and was given a very enjoyable tour by the current owner, David Lowsley-Williams. He's a gifted raconteur, and you certainly get your money's worth when he gives the guided tour (in fact, the tour his grandson gave which followed at least half an hour after ours was rapidly catching us up!).

The Cotswold manor house has been almost unchanged for four centuries and, as a result, has been used as a period film and TV location for over twenty years. Agatha Christie: Poirot - The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1990), The House of Eliott (1991), Cider with Rosie (1998), Lark Rise to Candleford (2008), Tess of the D'Ubervilles (2008), and Wolf Hall (2015) have all filmed here.

Unsurprisingly, there has been an upsurge in visitors this summer due to the location being used in the BBC's popular Poldark (2015), starring Aidan Turner (a.k.a. Kili in The Hobbit trilogy, and the very swoonsome vampire Mitchell in Being Human). The TV crew are due to return this October to film for the second series.

If you're ever in the area when the house is open to the public (Thursdays and Sundays from 1st May to 30 September), I'd highly recommend a visit. Here are some more pics to whet your appetite:

Elizabethan memorial figures found in the porch of the Chapel

Tapestry in Cromwell's Room

Ireton's Room with Flemish tapestry

Have you visited any film or TV locations?